Pokedexes and Pokeballs
by blueskysummer
Summary: my first attempt at a Pokemon fanfic, loosely based on Pokemon: Emerald


I know I may have some incorrect parts, I'm interpreting Pokémon in a different way than normal. I'm trying to make this as non-mary-sue as possible, so the main characters won't start with legendaries, they can't speak to Pokémon, and their Pokémon don't all utterly adore them or get along all beautifully with each other. I enjoy constructive critique, just don't be all out brutal, please.

Enjoy!

There was a sound similar to 'shink', and suddenly light streamed into the dark room, catching dust in it's rays. The person responsible for opening the blinds so suddenly scowled at the amount of dust, and at the junk scattered across the floor, desk, and even atop the small mini-TV. The girl walked across the room to a figure who was curled up beneath a blanket on the bed. The figure had curled up tighter as the light pierced the dusty air, letting out a low groan.

"Get up." The girl shoved the figure's shoulder.

"Uhnnnnnn…" The figure groaned. "Go away, Gene…" The girl on the bed rolled over, covering her head with the blankets. "Why are you even in my house?"

"You don't know? We're going out today!" Gene said, sounding irate.

"What are you on?" The girl on the bed lifted her head. "Incase you haven't noticed, I'm straight."

"Out into the world, stupid!" Gene scowled. "Mr. Oak is waiting!"

Bed-girl buried her face in her pillow. "Who's stupid idea was this?"

"At least they're not sending them out at age 10 anymore… remember that?"

"Yeah, they bumped it up to 15 on my 10th birthday."

"I remember… you were pretty peeved."

"Pretty? I was pissed at life." Bed-girl sat up, rubbing her eyes. "So, today, huh?"

"Yeah! now get your butt out of bed and pack." Gene grabbed an edge of the blanket and yanked, causing bed-girl to fall over the edge. She laid on the floor, moaning and preparing a string of swears…

"Shannon? Gene?" A sweet voice called. Shannon choked back her words, resulting in a kind of cough-thing.

"Yeah, Mom?" Shannon called.

"Aren't you going to meet Mr. Oak?"

Shannon sighed, utterly defeated. "Gimme a minute!" she turned to Gene. "Get out. or at least turn around. I'm changing."

"Charming." Gene shot her a smile, and decided to wait outside the room.

It was ten minutes later when the two were headed to the lab.

"So, we're going out separately, right?" Shannon asked.

"Of course. Those teams that head out are always so… lame. Might as well get a minun and a pulsee and call yourselves 'twins'." Gene shuddered.

"True. So… does that make us rivals?"

"Maybe. I'm just gonna be the best friend-slash-next door neighbor who consistently beats your butt in battles."

"Nice." Shannon scowled. "What do you think your starter'll be?"

"Ooh! I want a Pikachu! They're so… cute!" Gene squealed.

"Laaaame… I want a Charizard!"

"Charizards aren't starters, moron."

"Really? What about Mews?"

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Not really. You think they'll have a Rapidash?"

They were suddenly at the lab, and took a collective deep breath before barging bravely in.

They stopped short, nearly falling over a startled assistant.

"Oh, you're here…" he said, coloring slightly. "Unfortunately… Mr. Oak isn't. you could wait… except that's what we've been doing for hours." The assistant ducked his head, hurrying off to do whatever assistants were supposed to do.

"Huh." Gene scowled. "And I thought we would be late…"

"Should one of us go look for him?" Shannon offered.

"Eh… sure, why not." Gene looked back at the door. "You stay here incase he comes back, I'll be back in ten minutes if I don't find him."

"Sounds good." Shannon said, plopping in a rolling chair and putting her feet on a table, and, in turn, a stack of papers. Gene sighed, hoping Shannon wouldn't break anything while she was out…

Exactly ten minutes later (as was expected with Gene) the girl returned, a scratched-up Professor Oak in tow. Oak looked both sheepish and embarrassed, and Gene wore a look of annoyed pride (she somehow managed to mash those two together… Shannon couldn't recreate that look later if she tried).

"What happened to you guys?" Shannon asked, trying to casually slip her feet off of a table without Oak calling her out on it.

"I was caught off guard." Oak admitted. "I swear, I only set my bag down a moment when I was jumped! Had Gene not gotten there in time…"

"You would have gotten scratched up some more. No biggie, really." Gene rolled her eyes. "I'm more concerned with the fact that you couldn't hold off a baby Poochina."

"They are fierce when young!" Oak defended.

"Yeah, sure." Gene sighed, examining the pokeball in her hand, examining the creature inside through the semi-transparent red top. "Do you think I can keep this one? As a starter Pokémon, I mean."

Professor Oak seemed about to protest, then stopped. "That isn't a bad idea… if Shannon didn't see you pick this one, she won't know what type it was, and therefore, any rival advantage is gone!" Oak shook his head, smiling at himself. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

Oak rustled through his bag, checking it before dropping it into Shannon's lap. It was fuller than she expected. Apparently, he'd just gotten in a shipment of starters… she'd heard from others before her that sometimes he only had two or three to choose from, and she'd even heard that once a boy got there with only one Pokémon left!

She rifled through the bag, not even knowing where to start. Each pokeball had a hologram projector built into it, giving a visual of the Pokémon inside and a few of their stats; health condition, species, abilities, type, personality… so on and so fourth.

She picked up one after the other, examining them, weighing the options. Treeko. Charmander. Squirtle. Chikorita. Totodile. Chimchar. Turtwig. Skitty. Too many… so many options… she hadn't even reached the bottom of the bag yet! Chimchar was cute, and she liked its final evolution. But Charmander turned into Charizard, and she had said she wanted one of those! But she'd always loved Squirtles… and Treeko! How could she forget about that cute little guy?

She stared at her hands, palm down and buried in pokeballs. Which to choose? Why did it have to just be one?

One of the creatures must have moved in it's ball, because the pile shifted, one ball pressing into her palm. She couldn't see which it was, but her fingers curled around it.

_Whatever this is,_ she decided, _will be mine. Let fate make the decision for me._ She thought, smiling at the drama of her words. She pulled her hand out, the balls rustling as her hand was uncovered, and her starter…

The hologram poked up. Mudkip. Male. Water/ground Pokémon. Proud in nature.

"I got a Mudkip…" she murmured. Then smiled. Mudkips were awesome. "Sweet!"

Oak half-smiled, and Gene fist-pumped.

"Sweet! I've got a Bulbasaur!" Gene pressed the center button on her pokeball, the plant-type popping out on the floor in front of her.

"Buuuuulllbasaur?" it looked backwards and up at Gene, seeming to smile when it identified her. "buuuulll…"

"Aww! Look! It recognizes me from earlier." Gene cooed, stooping down to pick up the young Pokémon. It was w bit awkward to hold, but she managed.

Shannon scowled momentarily. Gene's plant-type had an advantage over her water-based Mudkip. But who cared? It wasn't like the best friends would be fighting all the time, anyway…

She pressed her own pokeball, and in a flash of light, Mudkip appeared before her. It was curled up, perhaps from a nap within it's pokeball. It raised it's head, blinking and yawning and stretching it's short, blue limbs.

Shannon knelt in front of it, looking it in the little star-eared face. "Hey, little buddy." She gave it a grin.

The Mudkip looked her up and down, then gave her a 'are you serious' kind of look. It proceeded to turn around and paw at the pokeball, disappearing inside it as it hit the proper button.

"That was promising…" Gene commented as Shannon picked up the red-and-white ball.

"Hush. He just needs time to get to know me, that's all." Shannon muttered. Maybe she should have gone with the Charmander after all… that one had a nice loyal nature. Who know that apparently 'proud' meant snooty?

Oak offered a re-assuring smile. "You can switch it out if you wish… but usually they do come around. Give it time to learn to respect you as a trainer."

Shannon looked at the pokeball in her hands, then back at the ones peeking out of the bag. They were tempting…

"No, I'll stick with this guy." She said, hoping she wouldn't regret it.

Gene pet her Bulbasaur, which had fallen asleep in her arms and was making a sound curiously similar to a purr. "Are you going to give him a nickname, then?" Shannon asked.

"I don't know… Maybe? What did you nickname your Bulbasaur?"

Gene's face reddened. "I'm not telling. You'd just laugh."

Professor Oak cleared his throat, and the two looked over at him. "You still need Pokedexes. I assume you've registered for them already?"

Gene nodded. Shannon looked over at Gene, letting out an uncertain 'uhh…'.

Oak smiled at her sympathetically. "Your mother filled out the registration before your tenth birthday, before they changed the age."

She blushed, nodding. Oak trifled through a box behind him, pulling out two gleaming red Pokedexes, still wrapped in plastic with instruction manuals and everything. He looked at the printed labels, handing the correct ones to each girl. Both ripped off the plastic, letting the discarded wrappings float to the floor. Gene flipped through the manual, skimming through the sections. Shannon shoved the unopened instructions in her pocket and flipped hers open, pressing buttons to figure out what they did.

"Whenever you're ready, grab a belt and a bag and go off!" Oak motioned to a rack holding generic Pokémon trainer gear; belts with pokeball holders and bags with Pokémon symbols on them. Each girl slung a belt around their waist. Gene grabbed a dark gray backpack as her trainer bag, while Shannon preferred an over-the-shoulder beige bag. The best friends looked each other over, slipped the pokeball containing their starters into their belts, and shoved the lab door open, stepping into the bright sunlight.

"So… seriously, what'd you nickname your Bulbasaur?"

"You tell me your nickname first." Gene said stubbornly.

Shannon thought a moment. "I'll name him… Llama."

Gene gaped at her. "Llama? Llama the Mudkip?" she burst out laughing. "Now I feel less stupid about my nickname…"

"What is it?" Shannon pried.

"Bulkhead." Gene admitted.

"Is that… an insult?"

"No, it's a transformers character."

"Of course…"

"Shut up. Your Mudkip's name is Llama."

The two had been walking through the small town as they spoke, and now found themselves at the beginning of the forest trail that led to other towns. It was the only way in or out of their town, and it was rarely used. Many agreed that this forest was the best for beginning trainers, holding many young or inexperienced wild Pokémon.

"So." Shannon sighed. "This is it."

"Dude, I have nostalgia." Gene admitted.

Shannon turned to her friend, sticking out a hand. "Lets promise, whatever happens, we'll find a way to keep in touch. We'll let our Pokémon hang out and catch up from time to time."

Gene grabbed her hand, giving it an energetic shake. "Of course! Besides, we'll probably be sticking together for a while, unless one of us wants to let the other have a head start?"

As if on cue, a sweet, high voice came from behind. "Shannon? Wait up!"

Shannon sighed. Gene gave her a small smile. "I'll go ahead and let you have some privacy." Gene disappeared into the forest, and Shannon turned to face her mother.

"What is it, Mom?" She asked softly.

Her mother was out of breath from running, and her Skitty was clinging for dear life around her neck, it's pink fur puffed up to make it more resemble a pink Venonaut. "I can't believe I nearly forgot!" she panted, holding out a small pokeball on her palm. It was dusty, and had obviously not been opened in a long time. Shannon plucked it off of her mother's palm, rubbing most of the grime off on her blue-and-white striped shirt before activating the holo-stats. The image flickered, and eventually appeared, but it was weak. It was a Taillow, male. Type: Normal Flying. It already had a nickname; Iggy.

"I sent your father a letter six years ago, when I thought you were going out. He received the letter when he made port, and immediately went out to catch you a Pokémon. It arrived six moths after your tenth birthday, and I gave it to the local P.C. to keep it healthy and ready for when you went out. I forgot about it until you left for Oak's lab. It was supposed to be your starter… I'm sorry." Her mother gave her an apologetic smile.

"Thanks, Mom." Shannon gave her mother a hug, earning a halfhearted swat from the Skitty still around her mother's neck. As she pulled back, she looked at the old pokeball again. Her father had caught it for her… that was big. Her father was a sailor, and rarely made shore. He tried to send her gifts for holidays and birthdays, but they never arrived in time. In fact, she'd never received a gift from her father that was less than a month after the said holiday. Sometimes he missed the holidays completely. The fact that the second member of her team was caught by her father made her smile. A constant reminder from him.

"Now go, make yourself an adventure." Her mother shoo'd her with her hands, blinking rapidly in what Shannon deduced to be an attempt to hold back tears. "Be safe, and visit often!"

"I love you, Mom," Shannon said, slipping the second filled pokeball into her belt before turning and heading off into the big wide world.


End file.
